Lance VanCortlandt
Lance Allen VanCortlandt is a character on the ONtv series, Smythewood and Harpers Falls: New Beginnings. He is played by actor Eric Martsolf, who played him during Smythewood's final seasons, and imported the role to HF: NB, until the character's death. Star-crossed businessman To look at him today, you would have never thought that this successful businessman would have had a rebellious streak in him, or even a nasty bone in his body. As a CEO, along with his wife, Vera, he runs Herington Industries wisely and well, but when he was younger, and in high school, Lance VanCortlandt was one of the meanest people in the world. He and his friend, Andrew Varina, also a young man who came from money; bullied mercilessly Chip Landers, and nearly drove him to kill himself. However, as time went on, both Andrew and Lance apologized to Chip. Lance is now Chip's uncle (Chip having been adopted by his older brother, Anthony Herington and his wife, Anna Jayne Herington) and he adores the young man. He is also related to the Harpers, mainly through the marriage of his step-aunt, Wendy Harper to Michael Harper. (Wendy's sister, Vivienne is his stepmother, and he is also close to his step-brother, Shane Owens.) After a long time stint in Pittsburgh, where he went to Boarding school, Lance went to college at Penn State and majored in business. He proved to be successful at it, and also mended fences with his family. While on a visit to his hometown of Smythewood, he met Vera Lindquist, a girl who was interning at his family's company, VanCortlandt Industries. While interning, Lance noticed that Vera had a business acumen that matched his own, and while working together, they fell in love. Vera and Lance were happily married in 2012, and still worked at VanCortlandt. After the death of his father, James, Lance was named as CEO, but he punctuated that he wanted Vera to be his co-CEO. The request was granted, and they work together to this day. The couple decided that it was time for VanCortlandt Industries to have more of a presence in Boston. Vera arrived first, going to the wedding of family friend, Amy Smythe-Jablonski and set the feelers for working in Boston. She became a friend of the Harper family, although they had been thrown by the similarity to their late relative, Aileen Mercier that she had. Lance's business sense is now matched by his compassion and sensitivity. His and Vera's marriage is one of the most long-lasting marriages in the Beacon Hill area. Later on, Vera received a major job offer back in her hometown of Philadelphia. She and Lance broke up amicably and they moved on. Lance moved back to Pittsburgh, where he was happiest. However, Lance decided that Pittsburgh had changed.....or rather, he had, and he returned to Boston. It was upon his return that he remembered Vera's request that he begin to date her best friend, Jacqueline Haller. He began to do so, and he and Jacquie are perhaps one of the happiest couples in Boston. That happiness came to a sudden and violent end when Lance's plane which was flying to London crashed into the ocean. There were no survivors. Category:Characters Category:Former Smythewood characters